Though Europe will eventually take over as the most powerful region of the world, that was clearly not the case in the years leading up to Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. During this time Civilizations in Asia and the Middle East were much greater. Europe was just coming off the Black Plague and needed time to come into their own. There was a reason Columbus was trying to get to Asia instead of Asia trying to get to Europe, Europe did not have anything that any other civilizations wanted. The colonization of the Americans will however give Europe what they needed to change their status.
Historically Speaking 